There were many things to like about the addition of Bobby Slowik to the Miami Dolphins coaching staff, mainly adding a former offensive coordinator to the current group of assistants and also the human interest angle of him joining his brother on Mike McDaniel's staff.
But it did bring up one key question: What exactly would his role be considering the Dolphins already had a pass game coordinator (Darrell Bevell), associate head coach (Eric Studesville) and assistant head coach (Jon Embree) on top of offensive coordinator Frank Smith?
Slowik shed some light on the issue when the Dolphins coaches met with the media this week.
“Yeah, it's very similar to how you build the whole team," Slowik said. "It's just at the end of the day, how do we make sure everyone has clear defined roles while also being able to help each other in what they're doing to help players go play and us go win games? So I know for me and what I've been doing in particular I know a lot of what makes (McDaniel) tick, particularly as it pertains to football. So I can help in regards to just me and Mike talking, conversing.
"There's a lot to balance when you're a head coach and you're also a play-caller. So just helping that process out, speeding that process up. And then outside of that, just working hand in hand with the rest of the staff."
Slowik's official title is senior passing game coordinator, different from Bevell, who is the pass game coordinator along with being quarterbacks coach.
Like Slowik, Bevell has experience as a former offensive coordinator (he's also been an interim head coach at two different spots.
"Bevell has been awesome," Slowik said. "He's let me kind of hop in the quarterback room, which I have an affinity for. I love quarterback play. I love being in the quarterback room. He's been fantastic. We've really bonded over the first month and a half, two months since I've been here. Me and Frank work hand in hand on a lot of things and really wherever help is needed is kind of where I'll go, and that's really to help everybody moving forward and just keep the train rolling is really why I'm here.”
A FIRST FOR SLOWIK BROTHERS
Slowik joined the Dolphins after spending two seasons running the Houston Texans offense, with wildly different outcomes each year.
After a highly successful 2023 season when the Texans ranked 12th in the NFL in total offense with rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud starting, Slowik was being mentioned as a future head coach. But then came the 2024 season when the Houston offense slumped to 24th, thanks (or because of) mostly an offensive line that had Stroud on the run. That led to Slowik being fired by head coach DeMeco Ryans, who like McDaniel had worked with him in San Francisco.
Slowik's brother, Ryan, is entering his fourth season with the Dolphins and now is the DB coach/pass game specialist for the defense.
Unlike Bobby, Ryan joined the Dolphins from the collegiate ranks, where he had worked from 2017-2021. Ryan Slowik did have a lot of NFL experience when he joined Miami, though, having coached in the league from 2005-16. Ryan Slowik was a defensive assistant for the Denver Broncos in 2005 when McDaniel got his first job in the NFL as a coaching intern for the Broncos.
Bobby Slowik worked with McDaniel with Washington from 2011-13 and again with the 49ers from 2017-22 before he went to Houston.
This will mark his first time working with his brother, though.
“It's awesome," Bobby said. "I think there's a lot of reasons I wanted to come here. Obviously, I've known Mike a really long time. I've known a lot of people on the staff a long time. But when you're in this profession, when you're in the NFL, the amount of times you get a chance to work with family, in particular a brother, is rare. So that's something that I've really enjoyed. I hope he's enjoyed, make no promises for him, but really, really been fun. You know, even, I don't think we've been (geographically) close since I was in high school, you know? So it's just been so long that we get a chance to hang out, re-bond as brothers, even when we're outside the facility. So it's been great.”
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